Morada water rate increase met with understanding, if not joy

STOCKTON — San Joaquin County Public Works received just five protests to a proposed water rate increase in the Wilkinson Manor Maintenance District in Morada.

As a result, the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a rate adjustment on Tuesday, which increases fees by $750 for some residents.

County public works director Kris Balaji on Tuesday said 286 protests were needed to stop the increase.

“It gives me no pleasure to say we have just five protests,” Balaji told supervisors. “We take no pleasure in raising rates in this manner. My heart goes out to this community.”

Balaji’s comments came after two Wilkinson Manor residents said while they understand the need for the rate increase, they worried how many of the district’s seniors and low-income residents would be able to afford the hike.

“There’s no disputing the fact that the district is in trouble,” resident Norbert Schueler said. “My concern is with the residents in Black Oak Estates. A lot of them are seniors on fixed incomes. We have to help some of them. Is there some other way to solving this for our older residents?”

The Wilkinson Manor district was formed in 1955, and the 254 properties there pay $285 annually for water. With Tuesday’s approval, residents will now pay $557 annually, Balaji said.

In addition, the neighboring Black Oak Estates formed in 2002 with 52 properties, each home pays $285 annually, along with $1.57 per 54,000 gallons of water used.

The rate increase will require property owners in Black Oak Estates to pay $557 annually, as well as an additional $478 in usage charges if they use more than 280,000 gallons of water in a year.

The older 254 properties in the district do not have water meters installed.

Balaji said the county proposed rate adjustments in 2007 and 2012, but both times, residents provided enough protests to reject the change.

Over the past 10 years, the district’s reserves had been used to offset budget shortfalls, he said. Now, those reserves are depleted, and the district’s budget is in the red by $76,491, he said, which could increase to $182,000 by the end of June.

With the rate increase approval, Balaji said the district’s budget could have a positive $17,299 by July 2020, and $108,747 by July 2022.

Paul Willette said while it was easy for residents to complain and protest about the increase, many in the district have realized that approving modest increases in 2007 and 2012 would have been an easier route to go, rather that the huge adjustment proposed Tuesday.

“Some in our district would support anything we could do to soften the blow for our older and low-income residents,” he told supervisors. “It seems that there is nothing we’re able to do, but if there was, we’d be agreeable to whatever it was.”

Board chairman Chuck Winn told Schueler and Willette that unfortunately there is no mechanism for smaller districts like Wilkinson Manor to give relief to the financially challenged.

He said, however, the water rate adjustment discussion should not have come to a point where the county had to take drastic measures to balance the district’s budget.

“I understand your dilemma, and I’m sympathetic, especially when you talk about those without the financial wherewithal to afford a change like this,” he said. “But (the county) is just administrative. It’s your district, and you ultimately make the decisions.”

— Contact reporter Wes Bowers at (209) 546-8258 or wbowers@recordnet.com. Follow him at recordnet.com/bowersblog and on Twitter @WBowersTSR.